خلفوا لي كآبة وهموما

وغراما ووحشة وغموما

They left me with sorrow and worries,

And passion, loneliness and grief.

يوم بانوا ولم يقولوا وداعا

مثلما انهم قلوا تسليما

The day they left without saying goodbye,

As if they had never said farewell.

لا كلام ولا سلام فهلا

كلموني بما يداوي الكلوما

No words or greetings, why didn't they

Say something to heal my wounds?

طال ليل من بعدهم وسهادي

ان ليل المحب كان اليما

The night has been long since they left, and my pillow

If the lover's night is painful.

غاب عن مقلتي بدور كمال

فهي ترعى طول الليالي النجوما

The perfect moons have disappeared from my eyelids,

So they wander the stars all night.

وجوى في الحشا تاجج حتى

خلتني في الحياة اصلي جحيما

Passion in the darkness blazed until

It made my life a burning hell.

معدما من صبر غنيا من الشو

ق فهلا بقيت من ذا عديما

Devoid of patience, rich in passion, if only

I had remained devoid of this.

ان تكن لي النوى افتراسا واني

فارس فاللديغ يسمى سليما

If my intention was to pounce and I

Am a knight, the bite would be harmless.

يا فوادي واين اين فوادي

انت ايضا ممن اراه غريما

Oh my heart, where, where is my heart?

You too I see as an enemy.

انت سولت لي الغرام فلما

ان تجلدت ذبت منه هيوما

You made me fall in love, but when

I endured, you melted away.

ثم ان تاثر الرواة حديثا

عن طلول آثرت داء قديما

Then the storytellers talked at length

Of longings, so I chose an old affliction.

ثم تشكو ومن شكا وهو ياتي

ما شكا منه كان فيه ظلوما

Then you complain, but whoever complains

While doing wrong is unjust.

بئس عيش تعيش فيه فلا تحيي

سعيدا ولا تموت رحيما

Miserable is the life you live without

Ever being happy or dying forgiving.

ان من همت فيه ملك حتى

صار من ذكر كل عهد سؤوما

He who aspires until he becomes king

Becomes the talk of every woeful era.

فالام الرجا والياس روح

حين لا ينفع الدواء سقيما

So goodbye to hope and despair is the soul

When medicine no longer helps the sick.

وعلام المنى وشانك باد

انك الدهر لن تذوق نعيما

And for what purpose, what is your state?

You will never taste bliss in this life.

هكذا شان كل من خاض بحرا

للهوى وارتضى به ان يعوما

Such is the state of all who dare to sail

The sea of passion and choose to float in it.

يا خليلي خلياني وشاني

لا يحيك الملام بي ان تلوما

My friend, leave me be, do not

Blame me if I am disturbed.

لست ابغى لعلتي من دواء

فاكفياني الرقى لها والتميما

I do not seek a cure for my affliction,

So spare me, I treat it with charms and amulets.

ودعاني على ابتئاسي فاني

اوثر الحزن لي سميرا نديما

Leave me to my sorrow, for I prefer

Sadness as a constant companion.

خلوتي مونسي فما انا راء

لي بين الانام ندا وليما

My solitude is my companion, for I do not see

Among people a boon companion.

كل ما لذهم فذلك عندي

الم غير ذكر ابراهيما

All their joys to me are but pain,

Nothing but the memory of Abraham.

عبقري مهذب قد حوى في

صدره قبل ان يشب العلوما

A genius, cultured, who contained in

His breast knowledge before he grew up.

ولهذا يدعى فصيحا وقد جا

ء فصيحا بكل فن عليما

And so he is called eloquent, and he came

Eloquent in every branch of knowledge.

كم له من متن وشرح افادا

واجادا المنثور والمنظوما

How many prose and poetic pieces he produced

And excelled in prose and verse!

وقواف من كل بحر اذا ما

سردت خلتهن درا نظيما

And poems of every meter, which if

Recited, would seem like prose.

عن ابيه وجده مستفيض

كل فضل فكان ارثا مقيما

From his father and grandfather he inherited

Every virtue, a lasting inheritance.

سادة للفخار كانوا اصولا

وقطوبا وللمعالي اروما

Chiefs of glory they were, pillars and peaks

Of majesty, of high minarets.

علمت كل امة من اعزوا

واذلوا عربا وعجما وروما

Every nation, Arabs, non-Arabs and Romans,

Knew them as the most honorable and lowliest.

كلهم كان كالفصيح حكيما

حازما ماجدا حليما زعيما

All were like the eloquent sage,

Wise, judicious, forbearing and prestigious.

كم له من يد على تقاضت

حق شكري لها وفيا صميما

How many times did he defend rights

For which I thank him sincerely.

رد عني السفيه بالنظم والنثر

فكانا لذا الرجيم رجوما

He repelled the fool with prose and verse

Which bombarded the villain.

لم يحر بعدها جوابا وقد كا

ن تصدى له عتلا زنيما

After this the fool did not dare to answer,

Though he had been challenged by a despicable weakling.

قد كساه بهتانه ثوب خزي

اينما سار سار فيه ذميما

With his lies he clothed him in a garment of shame

So wherever he went he walked in disgrace,

مستكينا مطردا مخصوما

مستذلا مبعدا مشتوما

Wretched, expelled, accused,

Disgraced, banished, insulted.

وسيبقى ما دام حيا شقيا

ومن الخير عاريا مشتوما

And he will remain miserable as long as he lives,

Devoid of good, insulted.

ثم يدعو يوم الحمام ثبورا

ثم يستانف العذاب الاليما

Then on Judgement Day he will call for dust,

Then resume the painful punishment.

انه كان للجوائب ضدا

وعلى المسلمين طرا خصيما

He was hostile to youth and a scourge

To Muslims, a hostile enemy.

كاد لي عن تغترف وعتو

ان كيد البرجيس كان عظيما

He almost deceived me with his arrogance and pride

For the devil's plotting was great.

علم الناس ابرهيم خليلا

وصديقا لي ان دعوت حميما

Abraham taught the people as a friend

And a loyal confidante if I called him intimately.

هكذا من يغار للعلم يحمى

حق مستنصر ويخزى اللئيما

So whoever is jealous of knowledge protects

The rights of the victorious and disgraces the villain.

هكذا كل مومن يبتغى من

فضل مولى الآلاء فوزا عميما

Thus every believer seeks abundant, universal

Success from the Lord of Bounty.

ولهذا آتاه ذو العرش علما

ومقاما اعلى ورزقا كريما

And so the Owner of the Throne gave him knowledge

And the highest station and generous sustenance.

وسجايا احلى من الشهد طعما

لست معها تستذكر المطعوما

And sweeter morals than the taste of honey,

With which one forgets what is chewed.

هذه مدحتي فان كنت قصرت

فاني مدحت برا حليما

This is my praise, and if I fell short,

I praised a righteous man.